Busker Event

Last Saturday, March 24, we went to Seaport Village in San Diego to enjoy and support street artists.

Our favorite musician was this man who played a didgeridoo made from a yucca plant.  He was very articulate, and enjoyed teaching about the didge.  His music was other worldly and beautiful.

This is a sample of him getting started before he really layered on the sounds.

 

These are The Pogo Guys doing synchronized backflips.

And a double backflip!

 The Williams Brothers (and a sister) were a fun family group who drummed on water jugs and danced ala Michael Jackson.

Below is a picture for Dave.

The USS Missouri is docked at Seaport Village, and is now a museum with restaurants.  Fun facts: the "Mighty Mo" was the site of Japan's unconditional surrender to Allied Forces ending WWII.  Her nine 16" guns could hurl 1,800 pound shells over 23 miles in 50 seconds with pinpoint accurracy.  Her firepower was extensively used in the Korean War and in Desert Storm.

 Proof that I actually cook once in awhile!  The next day I made minestrone soup from fresh vegetables.  Nick, we'll have to compare notes!

Writerz Blok

Yo, homies, last night, Gail and I ventured into East San Diego to the Center for Community and Cultural Arts.  It was the night of closing ceremonies for an art exhibit featuring 30 years of graffiti art, presented by the youth group Writerz Blok.  Writerz Blok began about 12 years ago as a way of steering youth away from illegal vandalism and towards learning the art of graffiti.  It is gang neutral, and its classes are incorporated into the public high school curriculum of 8 area high schools.  The program started the nation's first graffiti park offering over 10,000 square feet of paintable walls, attracting hundreds of youth, artists from all over the world, community members, and visitors each month.  The program is raising awareness, increasing respect, and achieving more wide spread appreciation for graffiti as a legitimate and museum -worthy art form. 

The exhibition was titled Contents Under Pressure.  This is a dual reference to paint in a spray can and urban youth needing creative outlets.

The vibe was friendly, with minimal depiction of violence, etc.

There was a graffiti art contest going on.  We were impressed by the seriousness of these young artists!  I had memories of former students, and how much they like to practice writing in graffiti style, which was not allowed at all in school.

Hip hop is definitely part of the culture, with deejays, dancers, and rappers performing.

There was graffiti art all over, by such artists as Sake, Izzy, and Kleenhouse.

Gail tags the wall with "P Girl and Yummy D", fine hip hop sounding names, but actually the names of  her two cats.

More unbelievable moves like this guy spinning on his head!

Art display of spray cans.

A vase and flowers made from sliced up spray cans.  Work by Kleenhouse.

It was a fun evening of being in a different culture, seeing the positive influence of community programs, and enjoying some amazing art.

The House is Coming Along

Our living room is taking on a look of its own.

Gail's "fainting couch" and old Schwinn are prominent features.  The picture above the fireplace is one of Gail's thrift shop treasures.

The dining area.

The living room again.

The entryway features Nick's pelican painting.

Fire in the fireplace, an in progress game of  Global Pursuit on the floor, and a critter, Yummy Delicious on the couch - a rainy evening here in Carlsbad.

The momento table currently featuring Bob's 1965 surf trip to France and a serpenty ocarina from Gail. More progress reports to come!

Truck On Fire!

Coming down the offramp to Escondido last Monday, we saw dark smoke just past the intersection at the entrance to a mall.

 Wow!  A semi cab was engulfed in flames, and a fire truck was just pulling up.

A couple hours later we drove back past the scene.  The cab was toast, but the trailor, which was carrying bakery goods,  was barely burned.

I read later that the two 80 gallon fuel tanks were about 3/4 full, and that after the fire was extinguished, it took several hours for the hazmat people to clean up the mess.

Tenaja Trail Hike

Yesterday, Saturday, we explored a new area, north and east of Carlsbad, a few miles outside of Temecula.  It was exciting to hike in a rugged natural area with few people.  It takes research, driving, and planning to do these kind of getaways.  Our trail was in the rugged Santa Ana Mountains of the Cleveland National Forest.

Our host was this coyote a couple miles from the trailhead.  He was intent on an animal burrow.

Gail somehow spotted this beautiful little butterfly as we started off.

A burl on this oak looked familiar!

This is the same tree, and it was totally hollow and supported by only a semi-circle of bark.  It was alive!

The upper slopes and ridges of the forest appeared like this - sandstone boulders, and chaparral. 

The sticky monkey flower here is much more colorful than in Northern California.

The ravines had tall California sycamores.  In the foreground is blue mountain lilac.

Most of the trail for the first 3 and a half miles was in shade where there was greenery and delicate flowers.

We had lunch by this pool in the creek.  

There were a number of California newts, and a California tree frog enjoying the clear water.

Can you find the frog?

Flower buds ready to open.

Yucca plant.

Flowers of the yucca plant.

We found some sunny deep "swimming holes" in the creek which were very tempting.

Another "swimming hole".

Our destination was the Tenaja Falls which would have been spectacular if there was more water flowing.

Another pretty wildflower to round off the trip.  We hiked 12.5 miles up and down two canyons - a great way of being outdoors and getting some exercise!

Starting the Adoption Process

Friday night, March 9, we attended our first San Diego Turtle and Tortoise Society meeting at Balboa Park.  The keynote speaker was Dr. Todd Cecil, the gentleman in the middle of the photo  with blue t-shirt and goatee.  Dr. Cecil is a DVM specializing in avian and reptile medicine.  He spoke mainly about the issues around post-hibernation.  Gail and I are planning to adopt at least one or two California Desert Tortoises.  Once they are illegally taken from the desert, they cannot be returned due to the possiblity of introducing disease and mixing up the gene pools with tortoises from different areas.

Pre-meeting activity, with tortoises being micro-chipped, and snacks for humans.

Gail and I cracked up at the name of the society's newsletter, "The Voice of the Turtle".  The only sound tortoises make is a little gasp of exhaled air.  



After the meeting, we went to the University Heights area of San Diego for dinner, and chose a Russian Restauraunt named, "Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant".  Gail was able to show off her Russian vocabulary, as she once was a student of Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey.    

We shared an appetizer of ikra badrijannaya (poor man's caviar), and plates of pelmeni (Siberian meat dumplings), and khinkali (peasant style meat dumplings).  All was delicious and the wine pour was generous.  The wall decor was customer graffiti, which was all in good taste and fun to read.

The piano was adorned in Russian dolls and nick-nacks.  This was a fun, reasonable restauraunt that we look forward to returning to.  

Biking Around Mission Bay

Last Wednesday, March 7, we did a bike ride around San Diego's Mission Bay.  It was quite windy, which gave us a good work out when we had to pedal upwind.

One of many shots of us and our beloved Schwinns!

This gull hung in the wind directly above us, probably to see if we were packing food!

Escondido Full Moon

Thursday was the night of the full moon.  We were both at the Escondido house during the day for some yardwork followed by patio dining with Mom and Diane (Gail's sister).  Gail suggested we do some night photography around the yard she so lovingly tends to and fondly remembers over the years.  It is a real nature reserve with animal habitat in the palms, pepper tree, and various other trees and shrubs.  The home used to be surrounded by countryside, but is now surrounded by neighbors.  Still, the yard is an oasis of cool shade and beautiful plantings.  Red-shouldered hawks, hooded orioles, bats, rats, and coyotes are some of the frequent visitors.

Moon

View from the garage top patio (above and below).

The pet cemetery.

Gail's family planted these palms - now look at them!  They are home to various birds, including owls, and bats and rats.

The pepper tree is the beautifully gnarled lord of the yard.

Gail has been shifting plantings to more drought tolerant cacti and succulents.  This one seems to be saying, "Don't mess with me!"  Goodnight, moon!